A short conversation between a guardian and his ward

Fandom: Buffy the vampire slayer
Rating: G
Genre: AU, drabble
Characters/Pairings: Buffy, Oz

Any warnings: (lightly) character death
Disclaimer: Buffy the vampire slayer and its characters aren't mine. I only write fan fiction for fun and entertainment.

A/N: This is a very short scene that I can imagine happening... The choice is Buffy's... And her guardian here is someone I really liked... Actually I totally adored him with Willow... they were soooo cute! Giggles.

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"Hello Buffy!" said the man with the spiky hair as his hands both rested in his jeans pockets. His greeting was accompanied with the trademark nod he always used to graced her with.

"Oz..." stammered the older woman now confused. She looked around herself and found that she was standing in an endless room of white nothingness.

She looked back at the man she had known years ago and noticed that he looked just the same as he had on the day of his parting. He still carried an air of calmness around him, so that she had to think a little to remember what she had just done.

"I was picking up my daughter... I think" she murmured.

Oz smiled and nodded, "Yes. She was just telling you about her day... when it happened."

"Am I dead?" she finally asked when she collected herself enough to speak.

He smiled a one-sided smile and shook his head. "No Buffy... you're just unconscious. But you will be soon if you don't wake up... And more importantly your daughter will be too!"

"So, I just have to wake up?" asked Buffy a little confused about the whole situation.

He nodded again and then pointed at a bright light that was heading their way. "You need to step over... Don't let anything get in the way... Don't turn, don't wander off..."

She gasped. "I am dead..."

He shook his head and then replied softly, "You're not dead Buffy. Not yet. You have a chance to go back. Willow is there too... she is now fighting to get to you..."

She looked up at him and then finally asked, "Are you dead?"

His smile turned softer than before and she noticed how sincere he looked, "I doesn't matter... not in the grand scheme of life... Now get going Buffy... You need to wake up now!"

With that she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, while placing one step before the other in a steady pace.

Oz still looking after her, called out, "Don't forget to keep going!"

He smiled and disappeared.